Genesis

Starting as an amalgam of two bands formed by schoolboys attending Charterhouse School in Godalming, England, the original lineup consisted of Gabriel, Anthony Phillips, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, and Chris Stewart, though Stewart was soon replaced as drummer by John Silver and then John Mayhew. By 1970, Phillips and Mayhew had left the band, with Collins joining as drummer, and by early 1971, guitarist Steve Hackett had filled the gap left by Phillips. The lineup of Gabriel, Banks, Hackett, Rutherford, and Collins remained in place until Gabriel's departure in 1975.

During the period of 1970-1975, the band produced some of the most widely-acclaimed albums of the progressive rock era, including the seminal album Selling England by the Pound, which generated Genesis' first foray onto the charts with I Know What I Like In Your Wardrobe. This lineup culminated with the band's magnum opus The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway in 1974. Shortly thereafter, frontman Peter Gabriel left the group, followed by guitarist Steve Hackett in 1977.

With former drummer and back-up vocalist Collins taking over for Gabriel, Genesis became a trio that was quick to move away from the dying embers of progressive rock. They established themselves as a more commercially-friendly outfit with the dawn of their LP And Then There Were Three.

Collins, Rutherford, and Banks gradually evolved into a soft rock combo, becoming internationally famed for successful jaunts such as Invisible Touch and In Too Deep. The 1980s Genesis evolved alongside Collins' blossoming solo projects, as well as Rutherford's sideline group Mike & The Mechanics. Collins eventually left the group in the 1990s, and was controversially replaced by Ray Wilson, the lead singer of one-hit-wonders Stiltskin and Spock's Beard's drummer Nick D'Virgillio. Their 1997 album Calling All Stations was heavily panned by critical eyes, and despite scoring a minor U.K. hit with Congo, the group slowly faded out of public consciousness. The band took a break from performing and recording in 1998.

The original line-up, with Collins, Gabriel and Hackett returning, reformed briefly to rerecord The Carpet Crawlers in 1999 for a greatest hits compilation.

During the end of 2005 rumors spread that the band would reform again in the original formation. The Genesis management stated that nothing would alter in the next twelve months, but Phil Collins said in a radio interview in April 2006 that the classic Genesis line-up is considering a new live-staging of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, but it was not to be. On 7th November 2006, Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford announced they would be doing a twenty-date tour of Europe in the summer of 2007, with a North American tour to follow.

Outside the band, Steve Hackett and Tony Banks have produced several solo albums, perhaps overshadowed by Collins and Gabriel's internationally successful projects.